How do you determine which is the best primary source?
Use the time and place guidelines
Use the bias guidelines
They will help you decide how “good” your primary source is!
Time and Place The closer in time and place a source and its creator were to an event in the past, the better the source will be. The examples go from the best primary sources to those that are least reliable:
"Direct"
Examples: photographs, artifacts, maps, advertisements, etc.
Accounts of the event created at the time it occurred--created by firsthand observers and participants
Examples: diaries, newspaper accounts by participants, birth and death records, family Bibles, census records, letters, artwork, business reports
Accounts of the event, created after the event occurred--created by firsthand observers and participants
Examples: oral histories, autobiographies, family histories, letters, artwork
Accounts of the event, created after the event occurred--created by people who did not participate or witness the event
Creators used interviews or evidence from the time of the event
Newspaper article written about survivors on the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg
Bias All sources are biased; they only show what the creator thought happened or what the creator wanted the reader to know--they show his perspective. Because of bias, think about these questions as you analyze the primary source:
Who created the source?
Who was the audience?
What was happening at the time and when was it created?
What is the main idea in the primary source?
Why was it created?
Compare the primary source with other evidence concerning the event
Examples of bias:
Person
Each one has his own bias or perspective on Utah
Chief Pocatello
Utah was his ancestral home; he wanted to preserve his way of life.
Brigham Young
Utah was a place of refuge; he wanted to establish a city for his people
Jim Bridger
Explorer and trapper in Utah; settlements affected his trading
- Use the time and place guidelines
- Use the bias guidelines
They will help you decide how “good” your primary source is!Time and Place
The closer in time and place a source and its creator were to an event in the past, the better the source will be. The examples go from the best primary sources to those that are least reliable:
Bias
All sources are biased; they only show what the creator thought happened or what the creator wanted the reader to know--they show his perspective. Because of bias, think about these questions as you analyze the primary source:
Who created the source?
Who was the audience?
What was happening at the time and when was it created?
What is the main idea in the primary source?
Why was it created?
Compare the primary source with other evidence concerning the event
Examples of bias: